Portrayal of Indigenous People in the Media

This article discusses the portrayal of Indigenous People in the media and its impact on their mental health. It reviews three media items on mental health among Indigenous Australians and analyzes their positive, negative, or neutral qualities. The article also explores the impact of negative media qualities on readers, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

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Portrayal of Indigenous People in the
Media
Newsarticles Items Reviews
i. An Aboriginal Approach to Mental Health is Helping Farmers Deal the with Drought-
Quartz Media
ii. We need to do more about cyber bullying against Indigenous Australians- The
Conversation
iii. Mental Health Crisis among Indigenous Australians- Borgen Magazine
Introduction
Media holds a powerful position in the society that informs and shapes perception of the people.
Media portrayal has continually impacted the relationship of Aboriginals and Torres Islanders
People with the mainstream Australian society by shaping perceptions and understanding of
Indigenous People that socially determine their health (Cunneen, 2018). Negative, positive, or
neutral media reporting impact how their readers view and understand issues facing Indigenous
Australian. McCallum and Waller (2017) stated that media should have balanced reporting to
effectively report on facts and create the right perspective to it readers. Australian public health
has high disparities between Indigenous Australian and Non-Indigenous Australian of upto 11
years difference in life expectancy and closing the gap requires major changes in negative
discriminatory media portrayal of Indigenous people. The following write-up reviews three
media items on mental health among Indigenous Australians to identify the positive, negative, or
neutral qualities and link the issue to unit learning outcomes. The write-up will also explore the
impact of the media item reporting to its readers.
Media Items
1. Quartz News- An Aboriginal Approach to Mental Health is Helping
Farmers Deal the with Drought
https://qz.com/1609807/an-aboriginal-approach-to-mental-health-is-helping-farmers-deal-with-
drought/
The following media item discusses the right Aboriginal approach to mental health and how it
can be incorporated to help famers deal with drought. Drought cause food insecurity as wildlife
and livestock die making farmers to struggle that raises rates of anxiety and depression. The
author details how drought cause exacerbating of the underlying trauma and grief that Aboriginal
people experienced in the past such as loss of culture and land. The author concluded that the

mental issues of Aboriginals can be addressed by addressing the environmental degradation to
enable them thrive. Land is part of Indigenous Australians health and their treatment requires a
holistic approach to achieve positive health outcome (Paradies, 2016).
2. The Conversation- We need to do more about cyber bullying against
Indigenous Australians
https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-do-more-about-cyberbullying-against-indigenous-
australians-115297
The media item brings into attention the issue of cyber bullying and how it leading to increased
suicide cases amongst Indigenous Australians. The author outlines the Indigenous People’s
experiences online that establish a link between mental ill-health, cyber bullying and indigenous
racism. The media report concluded that more attention need to be paid on the issue of cyber
bullying as it is related to legacy of colonisation and racism in Australia that lead to mental ill-
health. Proudfoot and Habibis (2015) in their study found that 21% of Indigenous Australians
experience harassment online with 17% being affected when offline.
3. Borgen Magazine- Mental Health Crisis among Indigenous Australians-
Julianne Russo
https://www.borgenmagazine.com/mental-health-crisis-among-indigenous-australians/
This media item discusses the mental health crises among the Indigenous People of Australia.
The discussion puts forward that the level of mortality and morbidity caused by mental health is
higher as compared to Non-Indigenous Australians. According to this media report,
discrimination, inequality and racism are causes of poor mental and physical health, suicide and
self harm among Indigenous people. The reporter concluded Indigenous Australians stills face
discrimination, disempowerment, and marginalization that negatively impact their social,
emotional, and physical wellbeing and the government should solidify and fight historical
injustices and constitutionally recognize them to improve their mental health. According to
Paradies, Y. (2016), 30% of Indigenous Australians have psychological distress and 12% above
45years suffer dementia.
Learning outcomes
Mental health issues among Indigenous People can be linked to colonization, identity difference,
diversity and racism. Colonisation caused and continues to cause feelings of despair. The
colonial masters’ policies and actions interfered with the Indigenous Australians way of life.
They alienated them from their land, locked them in one place, separated their children from
them and undermined their cultural practices (Cunneen, 2018). Colonisation also took the
Indigenous People’s self determination. Indigenous people have special connection to land and it
degradation cause distress to them. According to Sarnyai, Berger, and Jawan (2016), lack of self
determination that lead to sense of hopelessness that is passed to other generations cause high

incidence of suicide among Indigenous People. Racism is linked to bullying that cause metal ill.
According to Proudfoot and Habibis, (2015), 21% of Indigenous People face direct threats from
social media that impact their lives offline. Cyber bullying as a result of racial discrimination
causes anxiety, depression, and thoughts of suicide. The Indigenous People mental health issues
are therefore as a result of invasion by non-Indigenous Australians who colonised them and
continually discriminate them in their ancestral land.
Positive, Negative or Neutral Qualities of the Media Item
The three media item can be analysed in terms of positive, negative or neutral qualities as
defined by Stoneham, Goodman, and Daube (2014). The qualities show the media negatively
portrayal of the Indigenous Australia and their issues of health. Kenyon (2019) media publication
on an approach to mental health that helps farmers to deal with drought has a negative focus. The
author focuses on unpreparedness of Aboriginal People who are farmers for the drought that is
being experienced. The title of the media item shows the unhealthy Aboriginal People who need
mental health. The article primary focus is a despaired group of Aboriginal people that require
mental health to deal with the prevailing climate condition. The second article by Carlson and
Frazer (2019) on the need of more to be done concerning cyber bullying against Indigenous
People of Australians has a negative focus. The media article details a vulnerable group of
Australians that need more protection. The authors outline that there is need for Indigenous
communities, youth and elders to engage in a conversation about cyber bullying phenomenon.
The Carlson and Frazer (2019) media item therefore focus on the racism that the Indigenous
People face online and how it causing mental ill-health. The third media publication by Russo
(2019) on Borgen Magazine also has a negative focus towards Indigenous Australians. The title
of the media article paints a perception of Indigenous Australians being in crisis of poor health
(mental health). The author details statistics of mental health that cause high morbidity and
mortality among the Indigenous People and compared to non-Indigenous Australians. The author
also reports on issues of discrimination, inequality and racism that lead to self harm, suicide and
poor mental and physical health among the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. Therefore,
all the three media reviewed have a negative focus against the mental health of Indigenous
Australians.
Impact of the Negative Qualities of the Media Items to Readers
Negative qualities in the media items can have adverse impact to its readers. The impact is
different for Indigenous and non Indigenous Australians readers. The negative focus of the media
items reviewed can impact Indigenous Australians readers’ self esteem. The negative reporting
of the Indigenous situation adversely impacts their opinion and abilities about themselves. First,
Indigenous Australian readers can feel ashamed of the situations that part of their community is
facing hard situations. For instance, Kenyon (2019) article about how Indigenous Australians are
using mental health to deal with drought can make an individual of Aboriginal background to

feel shame because they feel connected to one another as a community. Secondly, negative focus
causes stress and negative emotions among Indigenous Australians. The reporting of suicide and
bullying of Indigenous Australians lead to negative emotions and stress to Indigenous
Australians readers as they feel they are the next victims. The young generation get bad feelings
about themselves and blame themselves of being part of Indigenous Australians (Cunneen, &
Russell, 2017). For instance, the negative reporting about cyber bullying among Indigenous
Australians by Carlson and Frazer (2019) paint a situation where some Indigenous Australians
have died as a result of cyber bullying and the rest are vulnerable when using social media as
compared to non-Indigenous Australians. The Indigenous Australians readers could therefore
feel inferior after reading negative focused media items that lead to low self esteem and a felling
of unmotivated and insecure. For Non-Indigenous Australians readers, the impact could be
different as negative qualities of media item toward Indigenous Australians justify stereotypes
that exist in the mainstream society. First, the non-Indigenous Australians readers could become
prejudiced against Indigenous Australian as a result of the stereotypes. The negative focus of
Indigenous Australians cerate preconceived opinion to non-Indigenous Australians readers who
start and continual to treat and feel differently about them (Bhatia, Poynting, & Tufail, 2018).
For instance, the unpreparedness of drought and dependence expressed by Georgina (2019)
media article confirms the inability of Indigenous people to live independently without help of
the mainstream society. Secondly, negative focus of the media item perpetuates discrimination
against Indigenous Australians from non-Indigenous readers’. Discrimination against Indigenous
Australians is a social determinate of health that adversely affects how they access resources,
opportunities, and health care (Paradies, 2016). Therefore, negative focus on media items toward
the Indigenous Australians justifies the mainstream stereotypes to non-Indigenous Austrians that
perpetuate prejudice and discrimination.
Conclusion
Media focus has a powerful influence to its readers that is a social determinant to a population
health. A review of three media items on mental health issues among Indigenous Australians
published on Quirtz, Borgen Magazine, and The Conversation websites portray a negative
reporting against Indigenous Australians. The media items focus on Indigenous People poor
mental health, dependence, and vulnerability. This negative reporting has impact to it readers
both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Indigenous Australians readers’ self esteem
could be impacted making them to feel ashamed and have negative emotions while non-
Indigenous Australians readers could get their stereotypes against Indigenous Australians
justified leading to prejudice and discrimination. Therefore, media focus has power to influence
it readers and should be balanced to avoid negative reporting that negatively impact a population
health.

References
Bhatia, M., Poynting, S., & Tufail, W. (Eds.). (2018). Media, Crime and Racism. Springer.
Carlson, B., & Frazer, R. (2019). We need to do more about cyberbullying against Indigenous
Australians. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-do-more-about-
cyberbullying-against-indigenous-australians-115297
Cunneen, C. (2018). Indigenous People, Resistance and Racialised Criminality. In Media, Crime
and Racism (pp. 277-299). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Cunneen, C., & Russell, S. (2017). Social media, vigilantism and Indigenous people in
Australia. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Crime, Media, and Popular Culture, Oxford
University Press, New York. Published online Sep.
Georgina, K. (2019). An Aboriginal approach to mental health is helping farmers deal with
drought. Retrieved from https://qz.com/1609807/an-aboriginal-approach-to-mental-
health-is-helping-farmers-deal-with-drought/
McCallum, K., & Waller, L. (2017). Indigenous media studies in Australia: traditions, theories
and contemporary practices. In Minorities and Media (pp. 105-124). Palgrave Macmillan,
London.
Paradies, Y. (2016). Colonisation, racism and indigenous health. Journal of Population
Research, 33(1), 83-96.
Proudfoot, F., & Habibis, D. (2015). Separate worlds: A discourse analysis of mainstream and
Aboriginal populist media accounts of the Northern Territory Emergency Response in
2007. Journal of Sociology, 51(2), 170-188.
Russo, J. (2019). Mental Health Crisis Among Indigenous Australians - BORGEN. Retrieved
from https://www.borgenmagazine.com/mental-health-crisis-among-indigenous-
australians/
Sarnyai, Z., Berger, M., & Jawan, I. (2016). Allostatic load mediates the impact of stress and
trauma on physical and mental health in Indigenous Australians. Australasian
Psychiatry, 24(1), 72-75.

Appendix
1. Borgen Magazine
Title: Mental Health Crisis among Indigenous Australians
Authors: Julianne Russo.
Link: https://www.borgenmagazine.com/mental-health-crisis-among-indigenous-australians/
Retrieved 21st May 2019
2. Quartz Magazine
Title: An Aboriginal Approach to Mental Health is Helping Farmers Deal with Drought
Author: Georgina Kenyon
An Aboriginal Approach to Mental Health is Helping Farmers Deal with Drought -Georgina
Kenyon on 4th May 2019 . https://qz.com/1609807/an-aboriginal-approach-to-mental-health-is-
helping-farmers-deal-with-drought/
Retrieved 21st May 2019
3. The Conversation
Title: We need to do more about cyber bullying against Indigenous Australians
We need to do more about cyberbullying against Indigenous Australians-
Authors: Bronwyn Carloson and Ryan Frazer (2019).
Link: https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-do-more-about-cyberbullying-against-indigenous-
australians-115297
Retrieved 21st May 2019